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Saturday, June 26, 2010

Update: There were 71 entries and Random.org selected #42 as the winner of this giveaway: Holly. Emailing you for addy, Holly. Check spam filter if you don't get it.

Don't use matches or lighters to check for propane leaks.

That is on the Safe Grilling Checklist from the folks at the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC), I'm not kidding. Sounds ridiculous right?

Not really. My educational and professional background are in occupational safety and health. From experience, I can tell you for every seemingly ridiculous "safety rule" there is at least one Darwin Award candidate that actually caused the need to state the obvious.

I promise you that someone has tried to use matches or lighters to check for propane leaks.

This give away hurts, because I want to keep this one for myself. This is a hard-cover book with almost 400 pages of luring recipes, food tips, photographs, and stories.

John Besh is an award winning chef, a highly successful restaurateur, a father of four and he pours all of that into this book. Pam of Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner wrote a detailed review of My New Orleans this past Wednesday but she summed it up by calling it a "masterpiece". I couldn't agree more.

One of the things I like about it is that it is good for someone who follows recipes step by step but it is also suited for someone who uses them for inspiration. That whole pork tenderloin creole with grits that I made this week all came from Besh's Basic Creole Spices on page 13.I could go on and on about this book, but lets get down to brass tax. Here's the giveaway rules and how to enter.

To enter, leave a comment below. (If you use the "anonymous comment" option, be sure to leave your screen name in the comment so I can contact you if you are the winner. Something like "EggerinFL from the Egg Forum" or "swibirun from the BBQ Brethren forum" is enough.)

One entry per person.

BONUS ENTRY: If you tell a brief story about a close call grilling accident or the most unsafe thing you have seen done on a grill, your entry will count twice in the drawing.

Drawing will be held Sunday, July 4th at 12:30pm Eastern.

Comments will be numbered by order received and random.org will generate a random number for the winner.

Limited to Continental US unless you wish to pay the extra shipping charges.

I am the final judge regarding any discrepancies, interpretations, grievances, etc about this drawing.

Oh yeah, one more thing. Don't use matches or lighters to check for propane links.

The closest I've had to a disaster is being away from my smoker, letting the temp so hot it ignited the grease in the bottom and set the entire inside on fire, and it was full on ribs - saved all but one. It taught me to stay close when there is any chance of a fire.

I have numerous burn scars all over my hands and arms from grabbing the grill thinking it was not that hot. It is possible adult beverage consumption may be to blame, like the time I smelled hair burning and it was mine. No hair on my hand for a while.

Can I tell you a story about a grilling accident that is about to happen rather than one that already did? The best part of this story is you are going to get the blame because you are the one who is tempting me towards certain disaster. You see I come here often and it makes me want to grill. When I moved into this house there was a ceramic egg cooker similar to your green egg. I did not know what it was and I decided to roll it under the house out of the way. Here it is some 12 years later and your blog makes me want to crawl under the house and try and retrieve this cooker. It's dry under there and the thing is ceramic so it's probably still alright. The only thing is I am certain to get bitten by a black widow spider. That's where they live I bet! So just remember that if I get bit it's all your fault. GREG

That cookbook looks great, count me in. I grew up near the NO area and spent several summers there with my friend and his family. The home-cooked food was incredible and the spirit of sharing was unbelievable. Every Sunday the neighbors in their little, very poor area would get together for a community cook. Great memories.

Crazy grill moment: A friend managed to dump hot oil from a turkey fryer onto a gas burner. I took him to the ER and he was hospitalized for a week with burns to both arms and an ear. Three years later you can still see scars. Ugh. I don't cook with oil while drinking anything alcoholic any more after that day. - Troutman on BGE forum

I love John Besh - the cookbook sounds great. I don't actually do the grilling in our house - I leave that to Chicken Legs. He has had a flare up or two that singed his arm hair off. That will teach him to use his grill mitt!

Aside from going two months without eyebrows/eyelashes, nothing much to tell about grilling accidents...but how about this for detecting a leak in the propane tank...my boy, who was 12 at the time, had heard from someone that soap bubbles can detect a leak in a gas line...not knowing WHAT they meant, he took out a gallon jug of liquid dish soap and proceeded to pour it over and over the propane tank...until he had emptied the jug. The grill/tank sit on our deck...the soap and ensuing water ran from the deck onto the plants below and for MONTHS whenever we watered we had bubbles!!! And then, of course, we had dead plants. We threw them out but kept the kid.

Updated entry...just read the directions. My stupid move just occurred last week when I reached in and pulled my mavrick temp probel out of my tri tip so I could turn it over...needless to say, it STUCK to my index finger and thumb and took a couple of seconds for me to remove...really stupid move.

I had to LOL at the tip about the matches. My friend didn't know her gas had been turned on in her grill all day so she opened it up and was going to ignite it (her igniter was out). It blew up and knocked her off her porch! It's something we can laugh about now, but it could have been a very serious accident. Now I always check to see if the knob is turned on before I even open mine. LOL

Oh, man!!! I could almost say I lust after this book. What a giveaway!!! Wish I had a safe or unsafe story to go along with this entry so I would have two chances, but I don't. Maybe I will be lucky anyway.

I have come THIS close to buying this cookbook, so maybe I'll get lucky! ;)

I once had a gas grill that had a little window on the front of it. My then boyfriend lit it, came inside and then we heard a loud boom. Went outside and the entire front window had blown out of the thing!! Thank goodness nobody was standing in front of it is all I can say!! I'm sure there have been others but that one stands out.

I can not imagine someone doing that with the propane leak. A Darwin Award candidate for sure! Your giveaway is the best! The cookbook is definitely amazing and your pork tenderloin looks delicious! Thanks for the nod!

I'd have to say that the least safe thing I've done was lighting charcoal in my chimney while barefoot. Definitely not a good idea, since it seems like there's always small coals (especially with the hardwood variety) underfoot. Ouch!

Adult Beverages = Disaster when grilling! Father's Day weekend I thought I as going to light a few people on fire! They kept milling around both the grills (gas and charcoal) and I kept waiting for them to bump into the charcoal grill and light their clothes on fire! A few close calls, singed arm hair and everyone is fine... Love John Besh! If I don't win I guess I'll be buying it. :)

This is a wonderful give-a-way; I'dlove this book too!I thankfully haven't had a major disaster grilling, other than some flare ups and few "burnt sacrifices" now and then.There was a terrible accident about 15 yrs. ago in my town- a teenage boy was using a charcoal grill and tried to add more lighter fluid to the coals after he had already lit them. The can exploded and he was burned over a large portion of his body. He was in the hospital for a long time.I don't know how he is now.

The worst I have done is not Burp the egg! I try to keep a level head while cooking so I have been verry luck. The worst I have seen is your people that use way too much lighter fluid and a flame shoots way up in the air!

I would love to win John Besh's cookbook! Yikes... so many bad grill stories on here... Ouch Ouch Ouch. The only thing that has happened to me was that a very close friend cooked us some grilled chicken for dinner and it was raw in the middle. I politely asked him to stick mine back on the grill and he said "Noooo I promise you it's done, this is my specialty" I had to sneak in the house and microwave my plate to finish cooking my chicken. So this is my unsafe story...... No one wants to get salmonella!

I'm outside the US, so I'll just tell of a 'safety' problem I had with the BBQ - but not the grill itself.

It was the summer after my first year in university. My parents were away on holidays and I had a pool/bbq party/reunion with my high school friends. It was potluck and we had salads and burgers etc. My friend Ricky Patel brought a big container of curried marinated chicken breasts. We kept it in my mini-fridge on the back porch. Overall, the cookout was great and the food was good.

A month or so later a smell on the back porch continued to grow, and grow. The smell seemed to be coming from the mini-fridge, but it hadn't been used in months. I opened it up, and WHAM! There was the leftover uncooked curry chicken in its marinade that remained in the mini-fridge . . . for most of the summer. I nearly puked, and had to go outside. I went in holding my breath, not knowing what to do exactly. I took the plastic container out to the road and dumped the marinade down the sewer, threw the chicken in the garage garbage, and took the garden hose to the container. Then washed, and washed that container over and over.

The first time I used a gas grill, I pressed the start button with the lid down. There was a sonic sounding boom, the lid blew open, and I was knocked backwards about 10 feet. I always open the lid now when I light gas grills - for obvious reasons!

I think YOU should put out a cookbook for the grill! I'm in dire need of new grilling recipe's and ideas. While I love what I grill, I really need to shake it up a bit. I make the same things every time. BoooooooorrrRing!Or maybe you adn your family can just move in next door to me and be my personal chef for awhile! :) Stacie

As an owner of some 5 UDS I have my variety of mis-haps. I have forgotten to put the lid back on and yes it gets away quick,grabbed hot grates with bare hands. The occasional adult beverage has helped me ruin ribs and chicken before. The giveaway looks great and he is a phenominal chef.

I've got a converted to gasser smoker. As I was learning its oddities I found one day the flame had blown out. Not sure how long I was just dumping Hank Hill's propane into the thing but it had to have been a while as the temps had dropped and I could smell the gas strongly when I approached it. Aired the thing out before relighting so was safe. Could of had some rocket ribs